Meghan Markle's dress designer on keeping pregnancy news under wraps

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the University of the South Pacific on October 24, 2018 in Suva, Fiji. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are on their official 16-day Autumn tour visiting cities in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The Duchess Of Sussex’s dress designer Don O’Neill had a feeling the former actress was pregnant before the news was announced.

The fashion guru, who serves as creative director of Theia, was thrilled when he was asked to create a look for her Australian tour with husband Prince Harry, and jumped at the chance to work with the 37-year-old.

A post shared by THEIACouture (@theiacouture) on Oct 25, 2018 at 3:57am PDT

He now reveals he received a key request that led him to believe major baby news was on the way.

“When her stylist reached out to inquire if I could make a dress for her Australian press tour, I stopped everything we were doing – my bridal show was just a week away – and immediately went to work on Her Royal Highness’ gown,” he said in a press release. “We completed the gown in two days, shipped it out and received confirmation that The Duchess LOVED it, but with one caveat. We needed to remake it with extra seam allowance.”

Despite catching wind of the major development early, O’Neill kept the information under wraps.

“We knew immediately why this extra allowance was required, but mum’s the word, and with less than one week to my bridal show, all hands were on deck once more,” he shared. “We remade the gown and I literally had to run down Broadway that Friday night to catch the UPS (United Parcel Service) truck, making it with just two minutes to spare!”

The Duchess has had a major impact on O’Neill’s work – her nuptials in May played a key roll in his most recent designs.

“Her classic, effortless and chic style coupled with all the excitement leading up to her wedding earlier this year inspired my Spring 2019 bridal collection, which I showed in April,” he shared. “Her Royal Highness is a truly beautiful, inspiring woman, a bright shining light in this world and we at Theia are truly honoured to be part of The Royal Tour of Australia, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga and New Zealand.”

The stunning white gown O’Neill created for the royal’s trip Down Under is now available for pre-order via Theia.

A post shared by THEIACouture (@theiacouture) on Oct 25, 2018 at 11:20am PDT

Prince Harry’s wife often tops style lists with her perfect looks, but she doesn’t always get it right – on Thursday the brunette beauty made headlines during a trip to Tonga, when she was photographed with a tag dangling from her red dress.

A label can be seen hanging from the dress worn by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, as she arrives at Fua’amotu Airport, Tonga, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.Dominic Lipinski /
Pool Photo via AP

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.